1. Technical Field
The technical field relates to storage and packaging of surgical devices and more particularly, to an adjustable suture package retention sleeve and procedure kit for organized sterilization, storage and presentation of sutures and the like.
2. Background of Related Art
Modem surgical procedures draw upon a wide variety of types and sizes of sutures. These sutures are usually contained in individual retainers or foil laminate envelopes wherein the suture is wound in a figure 8 pattern on a paper retainer as shown for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,249,656, 4,253,563 and 4,063,638. Other patterns such as coils, racetracks, etc., may also be used. The size and type of the suture is typically printed on the enclosure envelopes for ease of identification.
Depending upon the type of surgical procedure to be performed, a wide selection of sutures of different types and sizes must be available and readily accessible to the surgical staff. Currently, a large supply of different types and sizes of individually packaged sterilized sutures are maintained in the operating area. The packages are typically arranged in loose stacks according to type and size in an area adjacent the surgical instruments. However, picking and recording the sutures used during the surgical procedure may be very time consuming. Further, these loose stacks have a tendency to become mixed and disorganized during surgery, particularly extended surgery, making it difficult and time consuming to locate the proper suture package with the type and size of suture required by the surgeon.
One device designed to present a plurality of stacked suture packages is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,775 to Scanlon et at., the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. Scanlon et al. relates to a suture display rack and procedure kit for organizing suture packages. The rack is a generally u-shaped member within which the suture packages can be loosely held. Additionally, the suture packages can be contained in separate sheaths, or hinged to a wall of the rack, for ease of review and removal.
While the rack disclosed in Scanlon et al. is useful, it would be highly desirable to have a suture package retention sleeve and procedure kit which contains a plurality of interlocked suture package sheaths, each containing preselected suture packages, for ease of sterilization, transport, display and organization during use. It would also be desirable to have a suture package retention sleeve and procedure kit which utilizes less raw materials than conventional kits.
These and other highly desirable and unusual results are accomplished by providing an adjustable suture package retention sleeve and procedure kit for storing and sterilizing a plurality of suture packages contained within the suture package sheaths.